Chef Mickey's - never again for us

[PatMcDuck]

Just back, short trip to WDW over New Years, stayed at BLT. Most meals were fine, like Tusker House for lunch, Sci Fi for dinner, and Le Cellier for lunch.

The stinker was one of my old favorites, CHEF MICKEY'S. Sorry to say, not good. No prime rib, that was obvious, the roast beef they had instead was pretty bad the night we were there. I am no food critic, so the only other thing noticed by me was slowness in refilling side dishes, and less options for toppings on the desserts. Missed the non-pariells. Didn't they used to have a cupcake decorating table? I could be wrong on that though.

Less characters, no Chip and Dale. The guests barely reacted to the music, where that used to be pretty fun, when Mickey Mouse song would play. We had to stay after meal was done to wait for some characters.

It is VERY expensive, we had 5 "adults" (3 are teens), and it was a "holiday" time. So, we are done with this meal, too bad, it used to be a favorite.

 

[Nadjalu]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

We were there early Dec. and had a wonderful experience. Yes there was no prime rib (as had been advertised) but the strip loin was cooked medium and was very tasty as well as the other dishes.
The characters were good as well. Minnie was hilarious. She kept primping for all the cameras, just loved it.

 

[dawnandnala]

Less characters, no Chip and Dale.

I thought Chef Mickeys was always the fab 5

 

[Sandy321]

Thanks for your report! (and ITA! havent been back in a long time ... sad that...but it is what it is, and I'm not buying!)

 

[treehugnmama]

i agree we went the first time thought the food and service was pretty bad......we gave it a second chance in sept and it was worse then it was the first time feb/09 we did like cape may cafe for breakfast and will get our fill of characters there instead.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I thought Chef Mickeys was always the fab 5

It still is the fab 5. However they also use to have Chip & Dale, but 2 or 3 years ago they decided to no longer have them over there.

 

[squinkette]

Yeah, we had our anniversary trip in December and went to Chef Mickey's for breakfast. It was my husband's first character meal in Disney World EVER (not that he honestly cared that much lol) and his first time at Chef Mickey's...and it was the biggest flub for our trip, too. The food was...okay. It was his first Mickey waffles...but besides the "tradition" of it, it seemed like a bit of a waste compared to our other TS meals. Luckily, we had gotten the free Dining Plan, so it still didn't really FEEL like a waste...but it was disappointing. The character part was a HUGE disappointment. ALL of the characters COMPLETELY avoided our entire section of the restaurant (when you walk in, to the left). They ALL stayed together, in the center, to the right, out the door...gone. And it wasn't even like we got there late, after they got to our section - our reservation was for first thing in the morning, when they opened. 45 min later, Goofy finally came by RIGHT before we left, so we got one little picture from it. Big letdown.

 

[Tiger926]

We normally don't like Chef Mickey's at all - been there for breakfast and dinner, but this past trip in July, we noticed major improvements. Kids love it, and since we are staying at BLT for 1st night, we are doing breakfast the next morning.

Chef Mickey's is like CRT most of the time - overrated, overpriced and subpar food, IMHO.

As mentioned, Chip and Dale were removed several years ago. The only place to see them on property is at Garden Grill and I wouldn't eat there as it has seriously gone way downhill.

Tiger

 

[RadioFanatic]

Another one here who is no longer going to Chef Mickey. Food is not great at all and the character experience was awful. We had our 19 month old who LOVES characters and they were ALL very short with him.

On the other hand, I would HIGHLY recommend the Garden Grill. The food was surprisingly good and the characters came around not once but TWICE to see our son and spent a huge amount of time with him. Chip and Dale even sat at the table and held him and played. I will never forget that awesome experience and I was not that excited about going there in the first place.

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Wow, things must have gone downhill at Chef Mickey's in a hurry!

We were there last May ('09) and had a fantastic experience. It was breakfast and the food was great. The place was jam-packed but the Characters had a good circuit going where you had some time to eat before the next one arrived, and, even though it was crowded, they actually spent time with all the kids. Donald had our whole part of the restaurant swinging their napkins in the air, as the kids followed him around in a dancing line. It was a lot of fun!

We got to meet every character that was there, and we all had more than enough helpings of food!

On our next trip I'm sure we'll give it another shot (just because we had such a great time), but now we'll be on the lookout to see how things have changed from our last trip.

 

[DisneyLover1217]

Sorry you had a bad experience there. We just went in Aug. and had a great time. My kids are older and really don't care about the characters, so it wasn't that big a deal that Chip no Dale were not there.

 

[KevGuy]

We love Chef Mickey's, and go every trip. Never had a bad time there, the food while not fantastic is pretty good imo.

 

[sharadoc]

We are trying it one more time for breakfast. Never again for dinner. Mush with cheese is the way I described it. Terrible flavor, old food. The soup and salad bar was good, though.

 

[PatMcDuck]

Yes, this was dinner, the breakfast is probably a better bet. I have eaten at Chef Mickeys for dinner about 10 times at least prior to this. One other bad experience, but it was not food related.

We always remember Chip and Dale there, because they are our favorites, and because they were so hilarious one time. They took the napkins and took turns polishing DH bald head, it was very funny and we have the photos to prove it.

I would try Chef mickeys again if I was on the dining plan, perhaps. We paid $$, so it was esp. painful to pay that bill.....

Trip was great, this was just one minor bump.

 

[Planogirl]

I never cared much for Chef Mickey's but always thought that it was just OK.

I sure won't be going for breakfast if it's really $35.99 now!

 

[Mom loves Disney]

Were you there the same day as us (lol)? We thought the food was really bad!! We have always gone to Chef Mickey's, but this time did it for us. I'm so glad we had free dining because otherwise I would have complained.
The people beside us were talking where we could hear about how it really has gone down hill, so we were not the only ones thinking this. We also thought 1900 Park Fare was not up to par.

 

[laliwalden]

We went our first time to Chef Mickeys in December. It was dinner and I wasnt too impressed. It was just okay. We enjoyed 1900 Park Fare much more, as far as food.

I think next time we will try it for breakfast. Hopefully it will be better than dinner. As for the characters, we had never been with Chip and Dale, so we didn't even know to miss them!!

 

[MickeyEars]

Chef Mickey's has always been a first night tradition for my family but after our last trip this past June we will not be returning. There was very little to choose from and the food was horrible and we are not picky eaters. It's very sad that the food has declined so much since we started going because I loved going there and twirling our napkins.
When I made our ADR's for our upcoming trip in May my boys made sure to remind me no more Chef Mickey's.

Carla

 

[pixarmom]

On the other hand, I would HIGHLY recommend the Garden Grill. The food was surprisingly good and the characters came around not once but TWICE to see our son and spent a huge amount of time with him. Chip and Dale even sat at the table and held him and played. I will never forget that awesome experience and I was not that excited about going there in the first place.

I enthusiastically second the GG suggestion!!